Exhibitors And Attendees Alike Impressed By ConExpo 2017

Pretty much everywhere a visitor looked during the 2017 version of the massive ConExpo-Con/Agg trade show, service trucks and accessories were on display.

Exhibitors in those industries were scattered across the grounds of the Las Vegas Convention Center — from amid the sky-reaching cranes in the Gold lot at one end, to the new Bronze lot at the other.

“Well, everybody told me there’d be a lot of equipment here,” said first-time ConExpo attendee Steve Tracy, the southeast regional sales manager for Maintainer Corporation of Iowa Inc. “But you still can’t be prepared for quite how much there is. I’ve been here since Sunday and I still haven’t had a chance to get around to see it all. So it’s amazing.”

He was a bit nervous going into the show because Maintainer was assigned an outdoor booth in the Gold lot among the major crane manufacturers and their towering booms.

“We’ve had excellent traffic coming, though — really quality buyers not just tire kickers,” Tracy said on the second to last day of the show, which took place March 7-11. “People that are really looking to making purchases and purchases quickly. We’ve sold units here out of the lot in the last couple of days. The traffic’s been fantastic.”

Buyer attendance increases

Total attendance for ConExpo and the co-located International Fluid Power Exposition was nearly 128,000 for the week, said a news release from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, which organizes both shows. That was slightly less than the official count of 129,364 attendees for the 2014 version of the triennial event, which was second only to the 144,600 who attended in 2008, just before the global financial crisis.

The association also noted that nearly “26,000 international attendees from 150 countries braved global headwinds including a strong dollar and flagging export markets” to come to the show. The foreigners accounted for nearly 20 percent of show attendees, down from a 24 percent share in 2014.

On the other hand, attendance from U.S. buyers jumped over 16 percent from 2014 with total buyer attendance increasing eight percent, according to the AEM. Overall contractor and producer attendance was also up, by 10 percent.

ConExpo was certainly bigger than ever with a record 2,800-plus exhibitors and over 2.8 million square feet of exhibition space.

A diversity of offerings

“It’s a great show,” said John Celoni, president and CEO of Ramsay Industries, at the booth of Auto Crane, a Ramsay subsidiary. “It has been an outstanding place to bring in people that we do know and then meet new people and then see what is new within the industry. And there’s a lot of great information passing, a lot of great opportunities for us to show and demonstrate our products and the new features on them.”

Celoni had time to walk the show and even check out his competitors. “I’ve been to many partner exhibits as well as I always look at the competition and see what they’re doing — just like they’re here,” he said. “There’s no better compliment than having them come check out our materials.”

This ConExpo compared favorably with previous ones he attended, Celoni added.

“It feels a little more optimistic and upbeat about where the industry is going and maybe some of the economics behind the industry,” Celoni said. “So we’re excited about what that brings.”

Russ Thielen with Peterson Trucks Inc., a Cat and International Truck dealer in the San Francisco Bay Area, said that as first-timer to ConExpo he found the show to be even larger than he had expected. “And just the diversity of the offerings that seem to be here is great for the show,” Thielen said.

Jim Hasty, vice-president and general manager of Iowa Mold Tooling Co. Inc., said ConExpo was very good this year.

“The atmosphere is so much different than previous shows we’ve been to the last couple of years,” Hasty said. “From the mechanics that come in to the booth, to fleet managers, to business owners, everybody is very positive about what’s going on.”

Qualified leads abound

At the Miller Electric Manufacturing booth in the Bronze lot, sales manager Shawn Hamilton said he noticed “a lot of foot traffic” and “a lot of interest in our products.” In particular, he singled out the interest Miller’s new Enpak A28GVW all-in-one power system, which features a 28 cubic foot per minute air compressor, 550-watt generator, battery charger, and 210-amp stick welder.

“It’s been a wonderful experience,” said Hamilton, who was attending his second ConExpo. “I think that (with) the traffic that we’re seeing, it’s a growing event.”

Another sign of that were the long lines to ride the monorail connecting the convention center with hotels on the Las Vegas Strip.

For Sage Oil Vac, this version of ConExpo was better than in 2014, said company CEO Aaron Sage.

“It seems like it’s grown quite a bit,” Sage said. “And just walking out there on the Gold lot and seeing how much stuff is there is just amazing.”

The show has produced “very qualified leads,” he noted. “People here are ready to buy — people who are specifically looking for our type of equipment.”

As its name implies, Sage Oil Vac makes equipment for vacuuming fluids such as used oil but also for transferring new oil from a drum to a fuel tank. Other Sage products include lube skids and trailers as well as accessories like filter stingers, barrel straws, and drain plugs.

“Maybe it’s our prep work and whatever,” said Sage, whose company was exhibiting at ConExpo for the fourth time. “But it just feels like there’s more people who are serious about buying something now.”

It’s overwhelming

Bill McManes, an estimator with Boudreau Pipeline Corporation, was making his third trip to ConExpo.

“I love to see all the new equipment and all the new innovations,” McManes said during a visit to the Maintainer of Iowa booth.

His company has a pair of service trucks, although he was most interested in checking out excavators, loaders, and electronics. After spending the better part of two days at ConExpo, “we still haven’t seen it all,” McManes said.

Joining him was Doug Martin, Boudreau’s director of operations. He was also attending his third ConExpo.

What impressed him most about the show?

“Just the knowledge that everyone has here about the equipment they’re representing,” Martin, whose company is based in Corona, Calif. “They know what they’re talking about. You have a question they usually have the answers. If they don’t, they’ll get you the answer.”

First-time ConExpo visitor Randy Stokes, a mechanic with Canton, Ohio-based Beaver Excavating, used the word “overwhelming” to describe his impression of ConExpo.

“There’s just so much to see,” said Stokes. “We’re not going to see half of what’s here.”

His co-worker Charlie Cunningham, who was attending his second ConExpo, added that the 2017 show was “a lot bigger than three years ago.”

Let’s say it rocks

Nick Comaich, who works for Canyon Rock Co. Inc. of Forestville, Calif., came to ConExpo with a singular purpose.

“My main thing here was coming to look at the service trucks and see what I want next,” Comaich said as he stopped by the IMT booth on the first day of ConExpo to check out its latest products. He currently owns a Dominator that’s nearly 20 years old.

“It’s on a Ford F-750,” Comaich said. “It’s been a really good truck. I’ve got a Cat motor in it — been a good truck. Just getting ready for a new one.”

He uses the truck for plant maintenance, welding and “a lot of wrenching” at a rock quarry near Santa Rosa.

“I kind of get a little of everything in there,” he said. “So the truck, it lives a nasty life out in the mud and muck every day.”

Making his third trip to ConExpo, Comaich started off with taking a few classes, including “Crushing 101” for working on large rock crushers, and a session on craning.

“You’re never too old to learn something,” Comaich said.

At that point he hadn’t seen much of the show but was already convinced that “it’s bigger than ever.”

Michael Deneen of Chicago is looking to start up a stone quarry of his own. And with that in mind he also came to ConExpo with thoughts of upgrading his service truck.

“My truck doesn’t have a crane. That is one of the features I need, (to) get away from using the excavator,” said Deneen who currently does demolition and concrete work and runs nine wheel-loaders and seven Bobcats.

It was his first visit to ConExpo, although he had attended World of Concrete, an annual event that also happens at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

“I’m looking forward to coming back in another three years,” Deneen said.

An eye-opening experience

For Chuck Hamilton, director of marketing and OEM manager for Boss Industries LLC, ConExpo was “an eye-opener.” It was the first time the company, which is headquartered in Laporte, Ind., had exhibited at the Las Vegas event.

“We got to open up some new territories that we haven’t been to before and we had a lot of success with new customers and existing customers,” Hamilton said during an interview at the Work Truck Show in Indianapolis the following week.

Walt Van Laren, president of Service Trucks International, said he was impressed by the quality of visitors that dropped by the company’s booth.

“They’re all buyers, they’re all users,” said Van Laren, whose company is headquartered in Sioux Center, Iowa. “So you know you’re talking to people who use the product (and) want to know more about the product. That makes it fun to talk to people that are interested in what you have to sell.”

This was the first time STI had a booth indoors at the show. Van Laren liked what he was seeing.

“I would definitely if the budget allows really like to be inside again because I feel the traffic inside is more consistent throughout the day than being outside,” Van Laren said.

Compared to the previous show, the mood is more upbeat this year, he added. “People seem to be pretty enthusiastic and positive in their business outlook.”

As did others, Van Laren attributed that to the new president, a promise of infrastructure spending, and improved prospects for oil and gas. (See related story.)

Show “squashes the competition”

Kenny Dedor, western territories sales manager for American Eagle Accessories Group, said his company’s booth enjoyed a lot of foot traffic.

“We’ve got a lot of people who are excited that we have so many different products,” Dedor said, noting that American Eagle — a subsidiary of Garner, Iowa-based Stellar Industries Inc. — has recently added the LubeMate and FuelMate product lines.

“People are excited,” Dedor added. “We’re showing off our lube trailer and this has been what’s probably getting the most attention.”

It was his first ConExpo although he has attended other trade shows such as the biennial International Construction & Utility Equipment Exposition in Louisville, Ky., and the Work Truck Show in Indianapolis.

“It squashes the competition. That’s the best way to put it,” Dedor said of ConExpo. “It’s unbelievable how many people are here. It’s astronomical. It’s crazy.”

Chris Sloan, multimedia specialist with Michigan City, Ind.-based Vanair Manufacturing, was attending his first ConExpo and described it as a “ginormous place.”

“It exceeded my expectations. It really did,” Sloan said. “It’s a lot larger than I thought it was.”

He noted that the company chose the right equipment — such as its trademarked Air N Arc 300 all-in-one power system — to display at the show, which is “getting a lot of play,” he said.

“We have a lot of hydraulics on different trucks in the show all over the place,” Sloan said. “We’re well represented here.”

Tim Worman, product manager with Vanair Manufacturing, attended his first ConExpo in 2005 during his 28 years with Iowa Mold Tooling Co. Inc.

“This one seems to be a little better attended than the last one,” said Worman, who worked briefly with service trailer maker Thunder Creek Equipment after he left IMT in January 2016 before joining Vanair in December. “Traffic’s been steady. The other areas when I’ve walked and looked at different things were really packed. So I think it’s very well attended.”

The real deal

Amanda Deutsch, technical sales rep for Reelcraft Industries, was attending ConExpo for the first time although she has worked at and attended other trade shows.

“It takes I would say probably a good three to four days to see it all if you want to see it all,” Deutsch said adding that “it’s been great for our business.”

Scott Hannay, international sales manager for Hannay Reels, described ConExpo as “an elemental market” for his company of which he is the fourth generation in the business.

“We’ve sold to all industries truck-related — work truck, fire truck, aviation,” he said. “This is a big truck-related market for service work — tanks, water trucks, fuel delivery.”

The 2017 show was the biggest he’s seen of the five ConExpos he has attended, with more companies and exhibitors. “So we’ve been happy with it,” he said.

“This show’s very important because we’re pushing our brands,” Hannay added. “There’s other people that sell products like this. We want customers to be educated where they buy equipment on trucks to be able to specify our products.”

A touch point for customers

Mike Pettigrew, marketing manager of VMAC, which manufactures vehicle-mounted air compressors, said traffic this year was down at the VMAC booth, which was tucked in a corner of the new Bronze lot. But the quality of traffic “is as good as at any other ConExpo,” he said.

“We don’t have a lot of control over where our booth gets positioned,” Pettigrew said. “So that is I guess the biggest challenge because we really don’t know where we’re going to end up. Three years ago, we had a fantastic location kind of right at the front entrance. And so we had a lot of walk-by traffic. This show we’re kind of tucked in behind a bunch of people. So we don’t have very much so walk-by traffic.”

Unlike other exhibitors at ConExpo, which use it to build up orders for the next couple of years, VMAC, which is based in Nanaimo, B.C., regards the show as “another touch point for our customers” and an opportunity to introduce them to new technology.

“So I’d say our sales are not dependent on the show but it’s certainly a nice bump,” Pettigrew said.